


You Will Be Replaced

by thesaddestboner



Series: Hockey Gods [2]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Detroit Red Wings, F/M, Gen, Non-Famous Family Members As Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-21
Updated: 2005-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-18 00:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/554936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Osgood figures he should have known it was coming, but that knowledge doesn't chase away the little ball of bitterness growing in the pit of his stomach.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Will Be Replaced

**Author's Note:**

> Based on something I read in Hockey Gods, for the most part. Originally posted [here](http://community.livejournal.com/drain_bamage/51607.html) at [](http://drain_bamage.livejournal.com/profile)[**drain_bamage**](http://drain_bamage.livejournal.com/). 
> 
> Title from "The New Kid," by Old 97's.
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

(2001)

Osgood figures he should have known it was coming, but that knowledge doesn't chase away the little ball of bitterness growing in the pit of his stomach. If anything, it makes it grow a little bigger, until the strange sick feeling is tightening around his throat, expanding downward into his arms and legs, and into his stomach, tumbling it like a dryer.

The red light on his answering machine is blinking angrily, like a robotic eye, and he stabs at it, keeps jabbing at the button until he finally gets it right.

"Chris," says Kenny Holland's tinny, disembodied voice, "it's Kenny. I have some bad news. We just got Dom. Call me back, okay?"

Osgood rewinds the message, replays it for the third time. Or is it the fourth? He's listened to it so many times that he's forgotten _how_ many times he's listened to it. 

". . . We just got Dom. Call me back, okay?"

Rewind. Replay.

". . . I have some bad news."

Osgood presses the PLAY button again, fighting the sick feeling in his stomach.

"Chris . . ."

Again.

"We just got Dom. Call me back -- "

Jenna walks into the kitchen, Mackenzie in one arm and a paper bag of groceries in the other. She drops her keys on the counter and carries the baby to the high chair when she sees him, finger poised over the answering machine, ashen, his face blank.

"Chris?" She places Mackenzie's plastic rattle in her chubby little hands and steps behind him, reaching out.

He pulls away from his wife and presses PLAY. ". . . I. Jenna, I'm." He pauses as Kenny Holland's voice fills the silence between them.

"Chris, it's Kenny. I have some bad news. We just got Dom. Call me back, okay?"

Jenna closes her eyes and sighs, resting her cheek against his shoulder, tucking her hand into his bent elbow. "Chris . . . Maybe they won't -- "

"Jenna, it's _Dom_." He doesn't even have to say which Dom he means. "They don't need me anymore." His hand dives for the answering machine, but Jenna grabs his wrist and pulls it back, stroking his hand in hers.

"Don't. Erase the message and call Kenny back, okay? Don't torture yourself," she sighs, tugging on his hand. "Don't torture yourself, Chris."

He stares at the black box, his hand hovering like a low-flying airplane, shaking. "I don't want -- "

Jenna steers him aside and presses ERASE, removing the message from the answering machine, Osgood not really putting up much of a fight. "There. Now call him back." She picks up the receiver and places it in the center of his palm, curling his fingers around it.

Osgood lets his hand go slack and the phone falls to the ground with a loud crack. "I just want to . . ." He trails off. "I just want to go . . . fish."

Jenna raises an eyebrow. "Fish?"

"On the lake. I want to just get away from . . . this." He drags his hands through his hair and stares down at the space between them, scuffing his heel on the ground. 

"Don't run away." Mackenzie begins to flail her little fists and kick her legs, and Jenna goes to her, lifting her out of her seat. "Call Kenny and talk to him. I'm sure he wants to explain everything to you. I'm going to take Mack and put her down for her nap."

Osgood watches Jenna retreat, little Mackenzie peering over her shoulder.

He gets down into a low crouch and picks up the receiver, dialing Kenny's number, almost hoping that Kenny isn't home. He doesn't want to talk to Kenny, doesn't want him to tell him it was the only move they could make, doesn't want to hear Kenny's voice break, because Kenny's known him since he was a kid. 

That Kenny is his second dad.

And his second dad has just replaced him.

Osgood is about to put the phone back in its receiver when he hears, "Hello? Ken Holland speaking."

Osgood starts down at the phone in his hand like it's suddenly come to life, and his heart is seizing in his chest cavity and he doesn't know what he wants to say to Kenny anymore, his mind wiped clean like a dry erase board, and this is the hardest thing he's ever had to do.

"Hi Kenny. It's Chris."

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
